Slippers
by Rubidia
Summary: When the Wicked Witch of the West decides she wants more slippers for her collection, chaos breaks loose in the fairy tale world. It's now up to five princesses and the utterly useless Prince Charming to save the kingdom and get their happily-ever-afters.
1. A New Pair of Slippers

This is a story I've been working on that I'd like to hear some feedback on! I have most of it written already, so I'll try to update it in incriments of 5 chapters, about once a week. Hope you all enjoy!

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Chapter 1:

A New Pair of Slippers

As the Wicked Witch of the West, less formally known as Clara, lounged on a sofa, scrutinizing her vast collection of slippers, she grew more and more greedy. She had won the ruby slippers, and the silver slippers. She had inherited several pairs of silk slippers. She had embroidered, floral, and lacy slippers of every color of the rainbow, even the worn slippers stolen by the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, and yet, still she was not content. What she needed were slippers of gold and glass. She called upon one of her seven dwarf servants, enslaved when her sister had needed someone to mine rubies for the glorious magical ruby slippers.

"Dwarf, gather your incompetent friends and mine me some gold. I wish for magnificent slippers of the finest metal in the world!" she ordered.

"Yes, your majesty, we shall leave at once!" the dwarf hastened to say, for he knew what would happen if he dared refuse her. No sooner had he left the room, she had called another of her vast amount of servants, this time an elf whom she had snatched from a poor shoemakers shop one winter in the early hours of morning.

When he arrived, she wasted no time in ordering the poor creature to gather the rest of the elves, who had an uncanny talent for making shoes, and start work on the golden slippers that were to be made. The elf tried to resist, defending himself with things like a pair of golden slippers would be awfully uncomfortable and painful to wear, but, alas, the elf was no match for the terrible witch.

Clara, feeling quite content with herself, sat and contemplated where she would find glass slippers. Unfortunately, she thought to herself, she had yet to acquire a glass blower. So she must steal some from someone else, that much was for certain. But who would have such a unique pair of slippers, surely she was the only person to think of such a thing!

Uncertain of what to do, the witch called upon one of her messengers to go throughout the kingdom and observe every girl whose slipper size was 8 ½ to see if any of them possessed a pair of the strange slippers. Once he had left, all that was left to do was wait.


	2. Cinderella

Chapter 2:

Cinderella

So off went the messenger, eager to do this task correctly and earn the respect of the witch. For he was determined not to mess things up and end up locked in a tower like some of his former co-workers and a few girls who had been foolish enough to try and resist the witch. He was excited to be chosen for this task, but was still confused as to why Clara had not chosen one of her beloved flying monkeys again. She always picked a monkey. Always. So why the change of mind, he wondered.

But his thoughts were interrupted, for he had reached a small village. He spent several hours sweeping his eyes over every bedroom through the windows, following young ladies through the street, observing all footwear until he reached the conclusion that no one in this small town possessed a pair of glass slippers. So he continued his travels down the road that led out of the village and to the East, where he could just make out the shape of several large buildings in the distance. When he finally reached them, it was already late in the afternoon. He spent nearly two hours searching the town, but once again, he found nothing. He spent the rest of the night doing the same thing, but none of the villages he came upon had any sign of glass slippers. Tired and irritated at his failure, he stumbled into a small inn in one of the towns.

He was very tired, but yet he was unable to sleep through the few hours he had for fear of what the witch would do to him if he came back with no information. He finally drifted to sleep and snored through the early hours of dawn into midmorning. He awoke to the sound of birds whistling happy tunes outside his window and sunlight streaming in through the unclosed navy curtains. He rose groggily from bed and prepared himself for another day of slipper hunting. Finally he was able to begin his search again.

There were only two towns left in the kingdom to search, and he couldn't help but think that it was hopeless. But he soon found out that there was much to hope for, indeed! For when he arrived at the first village, he immediately saw a beautiful young lady giggling as she strolled along with a handsome fellow wearing a crown. And as he watched them, he noticed the prince was holding something behind his back, a present for his maiden, perhaps. He crept around the bushes he was hiding in until he could see behind the couple. Triumph at last! For the prince was holding a pair of dazzling glass slippers in his leather-gloved hand. A little more snooping also proved useful, as the messenger found out that the girl's name was Cinderella, and she lived with her evil stepmother at the Cuttingham Manor, in the village of Scomm where she was forced to do all the cooking, cleaning, and household chores. Evil stepmother, he thought? Well, the Witch will get along perfectly with her! And he set off back towards the Witch's palace lighthearted and whistling along with the birds.


	3. From Straw to Gold and Breadcrumbs

Chapter 3:

From Straw to Gold and Breadcrumbs

Clara was still lounging around on her sofa when the messenger returned. He bore such good news that she didn't even think to scold him on making her wait for so long! So, Cinderella, she thought. Hmmm…I'll just have to meet this Cinderella. "Messenger," she said, "go get the dwarves from out of the mines. I want to see how they are doing on my gold. Tell them to come to my room immediately. Then go and get the cook. I have a…request for him."

"Yes, ma'am." Clara watched as the messenger bowed out of the room, then turned her attention back to admiring all her slippers and reminiscing all of her incredible feats to acquire them. She was just remembering how brave she had been when she ordered Dorothy to give her the slippers and locked her in a tower, when the dwarves arrived at her door.

"Come in," she said loudly to them. They all trooped in wearing their filthy work boots, and she cringed at the sight of the dirt staining her luscious carpeting, but she said nothing and continued on. "Well?" she asked them.

"Your majesty," the lead dwarf said timidly, "well, um, there isn't exactly any gold left in the mines. We mined it all out for the construction of your palace." Clara showed no expression, and continued to inspect her fingernails. The dwarves waited hesitantly for her to say something, until:

"Then what are you going to do about it?" she asked slowly, but coldly. The dwarves looked at each other, searching for ideas until she spoke again.

"Go and fetch, oh what's his name, that odd little man, Rimblestien, or whatever his name is. The one who spins straw into gold!

"Rumpestilskin?" one of the braver dwarves asked.

"Yes, that's it! Rumplestilskin! Go and fetch him!" The dwarves scurried off, and she was left waiting for that ridiculous cook to hurry up and get to her room. Finally he arrived.

"There you are," the witch said impatiently, "Bring me all the breadcrumbs in the palace. I will need a lot." Though she could tell the cook was confused, he was obedient and hurried off at once.

***

Several days later, all of Clara's plans were put into action. Rumplestilskin was in a tower room, spinning hundreds of bales of straw into gold and Clara had gone out, sprinkling breadcrumbs all the way from her palace to the distant village of Scomm. Now, it may seem strange to you that she would leave a long trail of breadcrumbs from one place to another, but the witch was clever. She took her knowledge that Cinderella was forced to do all the chores in Cuttingham Manor and figured if she had grown up with a vacuum in her hand, she wouldn't be able to resist cleaning up all those messy breadcrumbs, and would follow them with a broom all the way to her palace, right into her open arms.

And as far as Rumplestilskin goes, well, it's rather obvious she was having him spin straw into gold that she could make into elegant, sleek slippers. And if both her plans succeeded, she would have those slippers in no time at all! All she had to do was wait for little Cinderella to come her way!


	4. An Exciting Opportunity

Chapter 4:

An Exciting Opportunity

Cinderella was the happiest she had ever felt. Ever since the ball, all she could think about was Prince Charming. He was the kindest, most handsome, interesting person in the world! He always gave her perfect gifts, and always had a wonderful story to tell, like about how a horrible witch had once cast a spell on him and turned him into a toad, and how he was magically transformed back when a good witch sent him on a quest and he succeeded. He was so romantic, she almost forgot about doing her chores sometimes!

But when she returned to her attic room in the evenings, she no longer felt like a princess, but just plain old Cindy. Her animal friends tried to cheer her, but what could possibly make her happy except for hopeful daydreams of the prince and living in a beautiful castle. But that would never happen to her. Soon the prince would find a princess to marry more beautiful than she would ever even dream of being, with all sorts of fancy dresses and evening gowns. The only fancy thing she had were a pair of gorgeous glass slippers, which she wore at all times. All she had to look forward to was cooking and cleaning for the rest of her life, no elegant balls or dresses or romantic weddings or castles, or anything. Just Cuttingham Manor. She sighed.

She woke up one Thursday morning, unaware that her life would soon become an epic adventure, just knowing that she had to clean the chicken coop and her stepsisters were hungry for their breakfast. She spent the morning making eggs and going about her usual work. But when she stepped outside to hang the laundry on the line, she noticed that there was a little pile of breadcrumbs on the pavement. So she fetched the broom and swept it up, knowing that her stepmother would be very angry for there to be little birds and squirrels all over the yard when her important guests arrived, eating the tiny crumbs. She walked down the drive to see if there were any more, and sure enough, she found more all the way to the street. Not wanting any hungry critters to be hurt by a passing horse or carriage, she wandered down the road a ways to discover more and more breadcrumbs. How strange, she thought. Where were all these breadcrumbs coming from?

She continued to follow the trail until she had left the village altogether. Then she began to get worried. She had never left the village by herself before. But wasn't she thinking just last night how she would spend the rest of her life cooking and cleaning? Well, here was a chance to escape and have an exciting adventure! And without another moment's hesitation, she began to follow the trail once more.


	5. A Wish Granted

Chapter 5:

A Wish Granted

Many a nights past over Snow White as she waited in her musty stone tower for some way to escape. She had been kidnapped by the Witch's sister when she tried to prevent her from taking the dwarves away to work in some mine where they would be mistreated. But, alas, she could do nothing against the Witch's power and had been thrown unceremoniously into this crumbling prison.

But, fortunately, unpleasant as the tower was, she was not alone. She had the help of Belle, Aurora, and Rapunzel. Not only did they provide company, but also keen minds and good ideas. These princesses would not just wait around for a rescuer; they had to escape so they could defeat the Witch before any more innocent girls were thrown into towers.

Unfortunately, not much could be done about escaping, at least not very quickly. With guards at every door and window, (the guards were flying monkeys, so they could reach the tower windows) it took careful planning to do much anything. They had made several attempts to escape, but all had been discovered before there was any chance of getting out.

But now they were working twice as hard to achieve their perfect plan, for they had recently received news of Cinderella's soon to be arrival. Well, three guesses where she would end up. They had to escape to save her from the Witch.

But first they needed to address the biggest problem yet. Getting themselves out. They had to find a way out other than the windows and door, which were all locked tight. The only other way was down. They had discovered a small stairway hidden beneath a rug, but further investigation showed that the room beneath was none other than the Witch's slipper closet. How convenient, seeing as that was where the Witch spent practically all day in, and at night, it was heavily guarded against slipper thieves. It was a miracle that the stairway was undiscovered, but there were so many shelves of slippers, that it was near impossible to see a dusty inch of the walls.

"Snow White, are you going to help us plan or not?" An accusing voice interrupted Snow White's thoughts. It belonged to Rapunzel. Rapunzel was always the one who got on people's nerves, but at the end of the day, she did come up with the best ideas. Snow White thought that she took her flowing long hair for granted a bit too much, and thought of herself as the most beautiful girl in the world.

"I was just thinking," Snow White responded with a sigh. "Maybe we should try something completely new. There's no way we can get into the slipper room without being caught. We should just forget the stairway and find something else."

"Are you trying to ruin our chances at escaping?" said Rapunzel, "Just because you have a prince at home to rescue you doesn't mean we all do."

"I'm just trying to be realistic, if you stopped brushing your hair for once and just thought about it, you'd realize the same thing I do." Rapunzel opened her mouth, undoubtedly to shout another retort, but Belle, the peacekeeper, interrupted her.

"Girls," she shouted, "Please stop arguing. Rapunzel, I agree with Snow White. I don't think we'll have any luck trying to sneak through the slipper room." Rapunzel opened her mouth to talk again, but Belle kept plowing on. "I think we should look around in some of the piles of junk up here and see what we can find that might be helpful." Rapunzel grumbled but reluctantly agreed with the plan.

So they each went a separate way, all heading towards piles of dusty objects, thrown up here by the Witch when the things got in her way or did not do what she wanted them to do. They spent two hours sorting through the stuff, giving a shout when they found something useful, but otherwise silently working until the silence was broken by an excited squeal from Aurora. They knew she must have found something extraordinary, because Aurora was the most quiet, reserved person you could ever meet.

"Look!" she exclaimed, "A magic lamp! I wonder if it still works!" She vigorously rubbed it until a hazy blue mist started to pour from the spout. They all drew in a breath simultaneously when the mist started to solidify into an indistinct shape, until a genie was peering down at them from its cloudy floating perch.

"I am Jacasta, the great, powerful genie," it started in an intimidating deep voice, "What services do you require of me?"

"Um," Snow White began nervously, "Well, we thought maybe you could, possibly, grant us a wish?"

"A wish is what you require? Very well. Choose your words wisely, for I am always sure to give you exactly what you wish for. If you say one thing wrong, it could bring disaster." Belle stepped forward to state their need.

"We wish to be freed from the Witch," she said slowly, "but not sent out of the Witch's castle." And then a great whistling erupted from the lamp, and all went blurry as their prison dissolved around them.


	6. One More Pair

I got too impatient to wait all week to post...Well, here's the next 5 chapters!

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Chapter 6:

One More Pair

Clara cackled as she watched little Cinderella clamber up the stone steps to her castle and knock on the front door through her slipper room window. Another pair of slippers won from another unsuspecting, gullible little girl. She glanced at the special stretch of shelf she had cleared for her wonderful new slippers and then swept from the room to meet her special guest, pausing along the way to check on Rumplestilskin's progress. All was going well.

When she reached the foot of the stairs, she saw her maid taking Cinderella into a lounge to wait while she retrieved the witch, but she was too impatient to wait for the maid to find her and strode into the lounge where Cinderella had perched herself on a little sofa as the maid ambled off down the hallway in the other direction.

"Hello, dear," she said in a sickly sweet, sugary voice, "Welcome to my home. But what could bring such a charming young lady to my humble doorstep?"

"Oh, well," Cinderella said, looking flattered, "You see, I was outside hanging the laundry on the line, as I do every day, when I found a little pile of breadcrumbs, and then another, and another, almost like they were showing me which way to go. I've always cleaned up after everyone, so I suppose it was second nature to start following a trail of breadcrumbs with a broom, but after a while, it became apparent that it was no accident that the crumbs were there, and I wanted to have a little adventure in my life, so I followed them and they led right onto your doorstep."

"What a fascinating story, and, may I add, those are some lovely slippers you're wearing! Do you mind if I have a closer look?" Cinderella looked a little taken aback at this, but she leaned down and pulled off the slippers and placed them right in the outstretched hand of the greedy witch.

"Well, it's been pleasant talking to you, Cinderella, but I'm sure you're quite tired from your trip. Why don't you stay here for a few days, until you're ready to head home, or where ever you're going? Come, I'll show you to a room you can stay in. Just wait in here one moment, and I'll put your slippers on the shoe rack in the hall. That's my only rule for guests here. No slippers in the house."

"Oh, I'm awfully sorry, Ms. Clara, I didn't mean to disobey your rule and risk getting dirt on the carpets!"

"It's quite all right, you didn't know, just don't do it again." Clara smirked to herself. That was too simple! And she swept off to place the slippers on the shelf, pausing along the way to tell a maid to escort Cinderella to her "room".


	7. Maids in Disguise

Chapter 7:

Maids in Disguise

When Rapunzel opened her eyes again, the world had reappeared and she stood up blearily to observe her surroundings. When she got a good look around, she realized that she was in the front hall of the Witch's palace. She stared around in amazement; it had been months since she had seen anywhere except for her dingy prison. But her mind was jerked back to the present when she heard voices coming from a nearby room where the door stood ajar. She listened a little more closely to hear Clara's rough voice talking to a smaller, softer voice, much more innocent than the Witch's. She looked around for the other girl's, and spotted them crouched behind a dustbin, whispering.

She crept over to them, keeping a close watch on the door behind which the Witch sat, when she realized something was different. Her tattered coral ball gown had disappeared from her body, replaced by what looked like a simple cotton maid uniform. Glancing up, she realized the others were also sporting the black and white uniforms.

"What's our plan?" she whispered when she reached their hiding place.

"We think we should stick to our costumes, and rescue the poor girl while performing our 'daily duties'," was the reply from Snow White. She nodded, and they lapsed into silence, waiting for an opportunity. Finally, the Witch emerged from the room, carrying a pair of dazzling glass slippers.

They stepped out from behind the dustbin, for the Witch had never personally met any of them, as she had her servants to do her bidding and they knew that there was no chance the Witch would recognize them. But still they all jumped when she stopped and started speaking to them.

"One of you, go fetch Cinderella and take her to her room. I'm sure you know exactly which "room" I am speaking of?" They all nodded excitedly. "Good. Why don't you do it?" She pointed at poor, timid Aurora. The shy princess gave a swift, nervous nod. And with that, the wicked Witch hurried up the stairs, no doubt to think up more nasty plans in her beloved closet. They all looked at each other with mixed emotions. Rapunzel knew exactly what they were thinking. She was thinking it too. It was a perfect opportunity to save Cinderella, but would Aurora be able to handle it? Any part of the plans she ever took were the small, trivial parts, and even so, she often received help from the other three, who had sturdier mindsets. Would she be able to pull through now and save all of them? Rapunzel shivered as she realized that only time could tell the ending of their story.


	8. The Quest for the Slippers

Chapter 8:

The Quest for the Slippers

Aurora glanced around nervously before retreating into the sitting room. Cinderella was perched on a sofa.

"Hello. There's not much time to talk, but I'll try to explain everything to you as quickly as I can. The Witch, and by witch I mean Clara, is not good. She's trying to take you prisoner so she can have the precious glass slippers for herself." Aurora tried her hardest to ignore the confused and disbelieving face Cinderella wore. "She imprisoned me, too. That's why I'm trying to rescue you." Aurora all of a sudden grew aware of how fluently she was talking, without a hint of shyness. She was surprising herself today.

"But she seemed so nice when we were talking," Cinderella's voice sounded timid and small compared to her own big speech.

Aurora suddenly grew fearful of her revelation, and reverted back to her withdrawn attitude. "That's a part of her plan. Would you have given her your slippers had she been cruel to you? Now, come on, we have to go find the other princesses, get you your slippers back, and defeat her!" she said nervously. "Please." She added with a pleading look at the end of her demanding dialogue. Cinderella still looked doubtful, but she reluctantly followed Aurora out the door of the sitting room to the hall where the other princesses still stood, looking awkward.

They looked questioningly at Aurora, who gave a shallow nod, signaling that it was all right, and they needed to continue on. So they slowly started creeping up the stairs towards the fifth story where all of the Witch's favorite rooms lay. After what seemed like miles and miles of stairs, they reached the fifth landing. There lay another obstacle. As they glanced to each side of them, all they could see was what looked like an endless hall filled with thousands if intricate doors. The closet could stand behind any one of them. They would surely get caught if they tried looking through all of them. But then Snow White pointed towards a nearby door to their left. The door was made of dark, shiny wood with a doorknob made to look like, of all things, a slipper.

They crept over to it, and Snow White bravely reached out to turn the knob, but before she could grasp the shiny surface, it started turning from the inside, and the door was swung open to reveal none other than the Witch herself.


	9. Rumplestilksin's Request

Chapter 9:

Rumplestilskin's Request

Clara spent several moments staring at her wonderful trophy before tearing her eyes away from them and rushing to the door. She must check on her new prisoner. She loved to watch when they realized that she had tricked them. They got so angry, yet were so helpless against her.

She extended her arm and twisted the shining doorknob, then pushed open the door. But what she saw was definitely not what she had expected. She looked into the pretty faces standing before her, the surprise etched in their features mirroring her own expression. And before she could gather herself to do anything, they were tearing down the hall to the stairs and leaping down them two at a time. So, someone was plotting against her, eh? Well, she would soon stop that!

She started off in the opposite direction from the where the princesses had run, to the staircase leading up the desolate tower where Rumplestilskin still sat, spinning gold. He might be useful in this situation, Clara thought to herself.

After several dizzy spirals, she reached the plain wooden door and entered without a knock:

"Rumplestilskin?" she began, "You may stop spinning your gold, for your services are required elsewhere. You're scheming and mischievous, aren't you?"

"That would depend on what you want me to do," replied a soft hiss of a voice somewhere buried deep within the heart of the glittering mountain of baled gold.

"I need you to help me destroy several maids who have been sneaking around, plotting against me. Will you do it?"

"For a price…" the voice again came from somewhere beyond the Witch's vision, trailing off in such a sinister manner that it sent chills through even wicked Clara.

"What sort of price?" the Witch inquired tentatively. She had not expected to be asked of payment.

"I wish for but two things: My freedom, and your ruby slippers."

"I thought you were only interested in children!" said the Witch, aghast with the payment he wanted.

"But of course not, Clara. I only desire what people prize the most. In the case of that foolish girl who betrayed me, I knew that when the time came, she would be distraught if I took her child. You have no intention of caring for any child, you care not of what becomes of the innocent. You take fortune in material possession, mainly your slippers. The ruby ones. Give me them, or I shall remain here until your downfall, which will arrive all too soon without me, I'm quite sure."

Clara gave a sigh, but agreed with regret. Maybe she could deceive him somehow, and get them back once she won over those silly girls. She whiled away the rest of the afternoon planning her greatest triumph yet.


	10. The Quest of Prince Charming

Chapter 10:

The Quest of Prince Charming

Back at Cinderella's stepmother's home, Prince Charming was frantic. He had just come to bring her flowers when he was informed that she was missing. He had finally found one girl who liked him for who he was, not just for being a handsome prince, and now she was gone. He had to save her. She could be in trouble!

But there was just one problem with that. Despite popular belief, he was not brave, not at all. He knew he had to go find her, but struggled to bring himself to do it. He knew the love of his life could be in terrible danger, but that was exactly why he _couldn't _go.

He finally gritted his teeth and resolved to save her, whatever it took. He forced himself to trudge back to his palace and into the stables to tell the stable hand to prepare his valiant little Shetland pony, Thunder. Then he went into the castle to make preparations for the journey.

He gathered himself a proper royal entourage (A Knight, a manservant, a groom, a tailor, a footman, a coachman, a loyal companion, and a gourmet chef), then went to kiss his mother goodbye before boarding the deluxe carriage and embarking on his grueling journey.

And so he set off, lounging on the padded seat across from petite Thunder, who he chatted idly with, occasionally leaning out the coach window to ask the coachman if they were nearly there yet.

Finally the coachman responded with a yes, and the footman hopped down from the seat to assist his majesty out of the carriage. The prince stretched his legs, then, surrounded by his faithful entourage and clutching Thunder close, he timidly approached the imposing golden castle.

After a moment of standing in front of the door, his loyal companion asked him if he should perhaps enter the foul witch's domain.

"Not without a proper entrance," he stated dumbly, "Why didn't I bring a trumpeter with me?" he shouted angrily.

"Perhaps, Your Highness, you should simply sneak in. Then the witch would not know that you were here, and it may, in fact, assist you in your rescue. Perhaps." The manservant squeaked. Prince Charming pondered this with an impressive stroke of his chin.

"Good work, man," he finally said jovially, "That is an excellent plan! Onward, my good men, onward!" he cried, and, using a hanky to avoid any germs on the door handle, pulled open the heavy golden door and marched importantly inside the palace.


End file.
